My Alpha Sacrificed Me, Claimed by His Crown Prince Brother

ELARA'S POV:

My last breath had rattled out of me in the royal crypt. The poison had burned through my veins, and darkness had closed over me at last.

Then a woman's breathless moan tore through that darkness.

"Gideon... slower. You'll wake her."

My eyes flew open.

I was lying beneath ivory bed curtains, not on the freezing floor of Alistair's tomb. The poison was gone. So was the crushing pain in my chest. My body felt young, unbroken, alive.

Beyond the narrow gap in the canopy, candlelight trembled across the bridal chamber. My bridal chamber.

Prince Gideon Vanderbilt, my newlywed husband, had Seraphina pressed against the carved oak wardrobe. Her pale gown was bunched around her thighs, and Gideon's formal wedding coat lay discarded at their feet. His mouth moved hungrily over the exposed curve of her shoulder as Seraphina clung to him, her fingers buried in his hair.

I recognized the room at once. It was our wedding night.

The night I had once believed was the beginning of my happily ever after.

"She won't wake," Gideon said, his voice rough with amusement. "I made sure her wine was strong enough."

Seraphina let out a soft, breathless laugh. "Poor Elara. She truly believes you married her because you love her."

Gideon lifted his head, his amber eyes fixed on Seraphina alone. "I married her because it was useful. Lord Thorne trusts her. The court trusts her. And with Elara tied to me, no one will question you standing beside Alistair as his chosen consort."

"That sickly Crown Prince will not last long anyway," Seraphina whispered. "Once he is gone, I will be free of him. And Elara..."

"Elara will stay exactly where she belongs," Gideon cut in. "Out of our way."

Then he kissed her. Not the dutiful kiss he had given me before the wedding guests. This was hungry and shameless. Seraphina arched into him with a soft cry, and Gideon dragged the torn neckline of her gown lower, baring more of her skin to his hands and mouth.

His palm closed over her breast. Seraphina gasped and tipped her head back against the wardrobe, her amber earrings flashing in the candlelight. Gideon watched her face as though every sound she made belonged to him.

"Did he ever touch you like this?" he murmured against her throat. "Did Alistair ever make you forget his name?"

Seraphina laughed again, breathless and cruel. "Alistair barely had the strength to hold a goblet, much less satisfy a woman. He thought a few flowers and those pathetic love letters would make me grateful."

Gideon's expression darkened with satisfaction. He slid his hand beneath the gathered folds of her gown, and Seraphina's fingers tightened in his hair. Her body trembled against the wood as he moved with slow, deliberate confidence, taking his time while she bit down on his shoulder to muffle another moan.

"Good," Gideon said. "Let him keep believing you mourn him. Let him think you are the sweet, loyal girl he chose."

"And let Elara sleep in our bed like the fool she is," Seraphina whispered, turning her face toward the canopy. "She has no idea her husband is making me forget myself only a few steps away."

My throat tightened so violently I nearly made a sound.

Gideon followed her gaze. For one horrible second, I thought he had seen me. Then he only smiled and pulled Seraphina closer, his voice low with possession. "Tonight, I am supposed to make my wife feel cherished. Instead, I get exactly what I have wanted for years."

"Then stop talking," Seraphina breathed. "Show me how much you wanted me."

Her legs wrapped around his waist. Gideon lifted her effortlessly, pinning her against the wardrobe as her skirts rode higher. The old wood groaned softly with each relentless movement. Seraphina's nails raked down his neck, leaving thin red marks above his collar.

"Gideon," she cried, forgetting all caution.

He covered her mouth with his, swallowing the sound. When he finally pulled back, his breathing was heavy and uneven. "Quiet. My wife is sleeping."

Seraphina smiled wickedly. "Let her hear. Maybe she will finally understand that she was never the woman you wanted."

The words struck deeper than the poison ever had.

They had been together from the very beginning. My marriage, their whispers, Gideon's tenderness, Seraphina's tears over Alistair's death—it had all been a performance. And years from now, when Alistair died, they would use the burial rite to erase me completely.

I lay perfectly still beneath the canopy, forcing myself to breathe quietly. Rage surged through me, hot and wild, but I crushed it down. A woman who moved too soon would die twice.

I had been sent back to the one moment before every piece fell into place. Alistair was still alive. Seraphina had not yet completed the Moon Rite that would bind her to him beyond dispute. The title of Crown Princess had been promised to her, but the bond itself had not been sealed.

That was my opening.

I would not expose Gideon and Seraphina tonight. I had no proof strong enough to survive their power, and they would only find a faster way to silence me. First, I would reach Alistair. I would make him see the truth before Seraphina could trap him in her lies.

Then I would take everything they had built on my corpse and turn it against them.

I looked through the slit in the bed curtains at the two people who believed I was asleep. My hands curled slowly beneath the silk sheets.

This time, I would not be their convenient sacrifice.

This time, Gideon and Seraphina would learn what it meant to make an enemy of Elara Thorne.